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- Abrahamsson, Markus, et al.
(author)
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Saproxylic beetle assemblages in artificially created high-stumps of spruce (Picea abies) and birch (Betula pendula/pubescens) – does the surrounding landscape matter?
- 2009
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In: Insect Conservation and Diversity. - : Wiley. - 1752-458X .- 1752-4598. ; 2, s. 284-294
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Abstract. 1. To create high-stumps (snags) is a common conservation action during final felling in Swedish production forests. However, many wood-living beetle species are only found in certain areas with higher overall biodiversity, so called hotspots. It has been argued that it is efficient to concentrate conservation efforts to hotspots. 2. The saproxylic beetle fauna was sampled on ten clearcuts inside hotspots and ten clearcuts outside the hotspots. They were collected with window traps mounted on 2- and 4-year-old spruce and birch high-stumps. We also used environmental data (e.g. tree species composition) to confirm differences between the surroundings of two, the clearcut types. 3. High-stumps on the hotspot clearcuts did not attract more saproxylic beetle species, or red-listed species, than high-stumps outside the hotspots. The environmental data showed that the clearcuts differed in several important aspects, for instance, were there a higher proportion of broadleaved trees around the hotspot compared with the clearcuts outside the hotspots. In a Canonical Correspondence Analysis, the proportion of coniferous and broadleaved forest was an important explanatory variables. The hotspot variable did contribute significantly in explaining the beetle composition on the birch high-stumps, but not on the spruce high-stumps. 4. In general, the study suggests that concentrating high-stumps to hotspot areas will not benefit more species. However, the result indicates birch high-stumps could be prioritised in a biologically rich landscape. The hotspot effect may be more noticeable in the future as the high-stumps decay and their importance for late successional species increase
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- Felton, Adam, et al.
(author)
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Forest biodiversity and ecosystem services from spruce-birch mixtures : The potential importance of tree spatial arrangement
- 2022
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In: Environmental Challenges. - : Elsevier BV. - 2667-0100. ; 6
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Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- There is increasing empirical support for the biodiversity and ecosystem service (ES) benefits of mixed-species production forests. However, few studies control for the spatial arrangement of the trees within mixtures to determine the influence that clustering the tree species (patch scale mixtures), versus evenly dispersing them (intimate scale mixtures), may have for biodiversity and ES outcomes. To highlight the potential implications of altering tree spatial arrangement in mixtures, and the need to fill related knowledge gaps, here we provide a qualitative multi-disciplinary overview of ecological and socio-economic drivers with the potential to alter biodiversity, ecosystem services, and management-related outcomes from patch versus intimate scale mixtures. We focused our overview on even-aged mixtures of Norway spruce (Picea abies) and birch (Betula pendula or B. pubescens) in Sweden, which enabled us to contrast findings within a biogeographical and silvicultural setting. Specifically, we targeted implications for biodiversity (understory vascular plants, epiphytic lichens, saproxylic beetles, birds), biomass production, harvesting costs, management ease, recreation and aesthetics, cervid game, as well as abiotic and biotic risks (wind, fire, pathogens, pests, browsing damage). In the absence of direct empirical evidence, we primarily relied on expert inference from theory and relevant empirical studies sourced from the Fennoscandian region, and further afield if needed. Collectively these efforts allowed us to develop a number of informed hypotheses indicating that for spruce-birch mixtures in this region, patch scale mixtures may have the potential to favour the diversity of several forest dependant taxonomic groups, cervid game and reduce harvesting costs, whereas intimate mixtures may have the potential to reduce pathogen and pest damage, and likewise, potentially benefit production outcomes. Current knowledge was too limited, inconsistent or context dependant to even tentatively infer outcomes for fire risk, wind damage, browsing damage, management ease, recreational and aesthetic outcomes. We emphasize that our hypotheses require testing, but are sufficient to (1) highlight the likely importance of spatial-scale to biodiversity and ecosystem services outcomes in mixed-species production forests, (2) caution against generalization from mixture studies that lack scale considerations, and (3) motivate the targeted consideration of spatial grain in future mixture studies.
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- Niklasson, Mats, et al.
(author)
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Sensorimotor therapy : Physical and psychological regressions contribute to an improved kinesthetic and vestibular capacity in children and adolescents with motor difficulties and concentration problems
- 2010
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In: Social behavior and personality. - : Scientific Journal Publishers Ltd. - 0301-2212 .- 1179-6391. ; 38:3, s. 327-346
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Our aim was to gain increased understanding of the effects of sensorimotor therapy on the physical and psychological development of children and young people when using the method Retraining for Balance. The records of 8 children who had completed the program were randomly selected from a cohort of 232 with sensorimotor difficulties and concentration problems. The participants, 7 boys and 1 girl, averaged 9 years of age. The Empirical Phenomenological Psychological method (the EPP-method, Gunmar Karlsson, 1995) was used for this analysis, which resulted in 29 categories which yielded 3 overarching themes: a) the introduction of sensorimotor exercises, b) regression to earlier sensorimotor and psychological behaviors, and c) transformations in which the sensorimotor and psychological skills of the children matured and developed. The themes formed the kinesthetic-vestibular developmental model illustrating how sensorimotor exercises push the therapy process forward while recurrent regressions are followed by positive developmental phases. The results of the study were generalized to the remaining 224 children in the cohort by comparing each individual’s records to the kinesthetic-vestibular model.
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- Niklasson, Mats, et al.
(author)
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Sensorimotor Therapy : Using Stereotypic Movements and Vestibular Stimulation to Increase Sensorimotor Proficiency of Children with Attentional and Motor Difficulties
- 2009
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In: Perceptual and Motor Skills. - : SAGE Publications. - 0031-5125 .- 1558-688X. ; 108:3, s. 643-669
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The current naturalistic study examined whether sensorimotor therapy utilizing the training program, Retraining for Balance, might be an appropriate technique for sensorimotor proficiency. The 232 children (181 boys, 51 girls), whose mean age was 9.3 yr. (SD = 2.7), presented attentional and motor difficulties (according to the School Health Care) as indicated by their parents before starting therapy. The children were divided into three groups, i.e., a younger group (7 yr. old or younger, n = 65), a middle group (8 to 10 yr. old, n =91), and an older group (11 yr. old or older, n = 76). The program has seven parts, including fetal and neonatal movements, vestibular and auditory perceptual stimulation, and gross motor movements, among others. The treatment period was close to 3 yr. on the average. Analyses in a repeated-measures design indicated significant improvement of sensorimotor skills among the three age groups, but the older children performed better than the others on several tests. There were only a few sex differences. Retraining for Balance may be a functional technique for training children and youth with sensorimotor difficulties and might constitute a complement to regular treatment of Developmental Coordination Disorder, Learning Disability, and ADHD, but controlled studies are necessary before more decisive conclusions can be drawn.Read More: http://www.amsciepub.com/doi/abs/10.2466/pms.108.3.643-669
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- Amsten, Karin, et al.
(author)
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Fire- and herbivory-driven consumer control in a savanna-like temperate wood-pasture: An experimental approach
- 2021
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In: Journal of Ecology. - : Wiley. - 0022-0477 .- 1365-2745. ; 109, s. 4103-4114
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- 1. Fire and herbivory are fundamental top-down processes, structuring grass-tree ratios in ecosystems across a diversity of climates. Both are plant consumers that can strongly control the recruitment of woody seedlings and saplings to taller height classes. Without consumer control, many grass-dominated ecosystems would convert into woodlands or forests. While extensively studied in savannas, few have explored the effects of these disturbance regimes on woody recruitment under temperate conditions.2. We exposed saplings of five common European tree species to fire and herbivory in a full factorial experiment in a savanna-like wood-pasture. After 3 years, we evaluated the effects of fire and herbivory on tree sapling survival and height increment. The tree species used, varying in traits and in expected response to fire and herbivory, were Scots pine Pinus sylvestris, Norway spruce Picea abies, European oak Quercus robur, Silver birch Betula pendula and Small-leaved lime Tilia cordata.3. Fire and herbivory had a negative effect on sapling survival for all species except for Q. robur, which was not affected by fire. Both processes reduced height increment of B. pendula, while only herbivory reduced the height increment of P. sylvestris and Q. robur. At the same time, B. pendula and P. sylvestris had some of the highest increments, together with P. abies, which had unaffected height increment in all treatments. T. cordata, on the other hand, had a negative height increment across all treatments. Overall, the combined effect of fire and herbivory was similar to the effect of herbivory alone on both survival and height increment, indicating no additional effect of fire when herbivores were present.4. Synthesis. Our experiment showed how fire and herbivory can strongly affect the recruitment of European temperate tree saplings on a wood-pasture, potentially leading to comparable consumer control described for ecosystems elsewhere (e.g. savannas). Two strategies to deal with fire and herbivory were identified: tolerance (Q. robur) and avoidance (P. sylvestris and B. pendula). We conclude that both fire and herbivory may have been important drivers of structure and species composition in open ecosystems in temperate Europe in the past.
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- Amsten, Karin, et al.
(author)
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Pyric herbivory in a temperate European wood-pasture system
- 2024
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In: Journal of Applied Ecology. - 0021-8901 .- 1365-2664. ; 61, s. 1081-1094
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The term pyric herbivory was first introduced in 2009, describing how fire shapes herbivory as burned areas attract herbivores and, simultaneously, herbivory shapes fuel load and fire behaviour. Pyric herbivory results in a mosaic of patches with varying levels of herbivory and grazing intensity fire intensity and frequency. The importance of pyric herbivory for ecosystem heterogeneity and biodiversity has been described for North American, Australian and African systems, but the concept remains largely untested in a European context. We introduced fire and herbivory in a full-factorial experiment in a temperate European wood-pasture system to test whether pyric herbivory operates in ways comparable to grassy systems elsewhere in the world. Using camera traps, we observed the behaviour of cattle in burned subplots (49 m2) compared with unburned subplots. We measured grass height and the proportion of the subplot that burned as variables affecting cattle preference and to assess how grazing affects fire behaviour. We also examined the effect on plant species and life-form composition after six seasons of treatment. Cattle spent more time grazing in burned than in unburned subplots in the most productive paddock, where a larger proportion of the subplot burned. The proportion of a subplot that burned was positively related to pre-fire grass height. Moreover, both grass height and the proportion of subplot burned declined in the burned subplots during the 6-year study period and fire and cattle grazing altered the relative cover of graminoids and shrubs (Rubus spp.), with more graminoids in grazed and/or burned subplots and more shrubs in ungrazed subplots at the end of the study. Synthesis and applications. In our temperate European wood pasture, fire and (cattle) grazing interacted in ways comparable to pyric herbivory in grassy ecosystems elsewhere in the world, especially in the most productive paddock. Fire attracted grazing, with cattle grazing longer on subplots that burned more fully. Grazing also affected fire, where over the course of our experiment cattle grazing reduced grass height and the proportion of a subplot that burned. We suggest that pyric herbivory is an interesting management method to further explore in the European context to address the loss of biodiversity in open ecosystems, particularly in more productive sites.In our temperate European wood pasture, fire and (cattle) grazing interacted in ways comparable to pyric herbivory in grassy ecosystems elsewhere in the world, especially in the most productive paddock. Fire attracted grazing, with cattle grazing longer on subplots that burned more fully. Grazing also affected fire, where over the course of our experiment cattle grazing reduced grass height and the proportion of a subplot that burned. We suggest that pyric herbivory is an interesting management method to further explore in the European context to address the loss of biodiversity in open ecosystems, particularly in more productive sites.image
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- Bergner, Adam, et al.
(author)
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Influences of forest type and habitat structure on bird assemblagesof oak (Quercus spp.) and pine (Pinus spp.) stands in southwesternTurkey
- 2015
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In: Forest Ecology and Management. - : Elsevier. - 0378-1127 .- 1872-7042. ; 336, s. 137-147
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The Mediterranean basin exhibits a multitude of forest habitats affected by former and current exploitation and management. Recent afforestation programs have resulted in an increase in the proportion of coniferous trees, while oak stands, formerly utilized for coppicing and grazing, are abandoned or converted into coniferous plantations. The loss of oak stands might negatively affect birds dependent upon broadleaved forests. Studies confirming or rejecting that statement are scarce, particularly in the eastern part of the region. Using a study area in southwestern Turkey we applied a guild-based approach to investigate how pine and oak stands across a chronosequence differ in their capacity to support forest bird assemblages. Variables describing the vegetation were sampled to characterize the stands and relate bird assemblages to stand structure. Bird abundance and species richness was positively associated with age for both stand types. Richness and diversity was highest in oak stands, while there were no differences in bird abundance between the two forest types. Pine stands supported a different bird species composition compared to oak stands of the same age. Stand age and structure, rather than forest type, held the highest explanatory powers for bird assembly structure. Primary cavity-nesters and ground-nesters were more abundant in oak stands, possibly reflecting differences in stand structure and resource distribution. To support these birds with suitable habitats, oaks stands need conservation. Management practices in pine stands should strive for increasing the amount of old trees and retain vegetation in the understory to benefit breeding birds.
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